Nemesis has been much maligned by Star Trek fans as the movie that killed the Next Generation film series. While this is probably not a fair assessment—there were many factors that converged at that time—there were certainly controversial decisions made. Stuart Baird’s direction and (lack of) understanding of Star Trek turned off many fans.

Another often discussed decision was the use of Picard’s clone as the villain and the casting of little-known actor Tom Hardy in the role. Nemesis was just Hardy’s fourth film, and since then he has gone on to become an accomplished screen presence. Currently he plays Bane in The Dark Knight Rises and soon will begin filming the Cicero trilogy as Al Capone.

So what went into that decision to cast the young Hardy as Shinzon? Take a look at this video which offers up footage of his screen test with Patrick Stewart. Let us know what you think about Hardy and his performance as Shinzon.